Reckless driving crash; Milwaukee teen accused, his brother critically hurt
Chrisshawn Beard
MILWAUKEE - A 17-year-old Milwaukee boy is accused of driving recklessly and causing a crash that critically injured his own brother on the city's south side. The accused is Chrisshawn Beard – and he faces the following criminal counts:
- Reckless driving causing great bodily hard
- Knowingly operate motor vehicle without a valid license-cause great bodily harm
According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police were dispatched to the intersection of 31st and Rogers Street for a vehicle crash around 1 a.m. on Sunday, April 2. When officers arrived on the scene, they spotted a person laying on the sidewalk, suffering cuts and bruises. The person identified as being in a black SUV that was still on the scene. The SUV had its rear cargo compartment windows "smashed out." Police determined the victim "was in the cargo portion of the Chevy Equinox and had been ejected from the vehicle out one of the back windows at the time of the crash," the complaint says. The victim was taken to Children's Wisconsin for treatment. He was last listed in critical condition with skull fractures and severe bleeding on the brain.
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The complaint says the driver of the black SUV was identified as Beard, the defendant, and the victim's brother. When Beard came to the hospital, he spoke with a detective and "admitted that he had a stop sign at the intersection and that he slowed but then saw a pickup truck coming towards the intersection and that he then increased the speed of his car and the pickup truck struck him. The defendant admitted that he did not have a valid driver's license and should not have been driving."
Officials from the Crash Reconstruction Unit secured a warrant to recover data from the restraint control module of the SUV that Beard was driving. The complaint says an "analysis of that data revealed that the Chevy Equinox was traveling 39 mph less than 3 seconds prior to impact. The Chevy Equinox then slowed to 26 mph less than 1.5 seconds prior to impact and that there was 99% throttle applied (which means the defendant did not apply the brakes)." The complaint finished by indicating "the defendant failed to stop for the stop sign, and he then caused the crash."
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Beard made his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Wednesday, April 5. A signature bond of $5,000 was set.